


To New Beginnings

by ReadingRose18



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Revised Version, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24143095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadingRose18/pseuds/ReadingRose18
Summary: The Cell Games were over. The threat to their lives had finally been vanquished. But the price paid was far too great. Bulma had finally learned how precious life really was. Will she take her newfound knowledge and apply it to her relationship with the Prince? Or will they simply...drift apart? Epilogue to Beauty and The Prince. REVISED
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	To New Beginnings

_**Author's Note 1:**_ Hey everybody! So, this is something I'd been thinking of lately. It came to me that I couldn't leave our favourite couple feeling all negative towards each other, even though that's what happened canonically speaking. So I've written this to clear the air between them from the end of my last fic. Yay!

Now you may have noticed but this fic had been heavily redone since being posted last night. A review from F.K (thank you so much for helping me out✊) made me see that this one-shot had lacked a lot of what had needed to be addressed between these two and I just hated the way it looked so I took it down and redid half of it. I must say I'm much more satisfied now. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Okay, enough of that. Without further ado, I present to you the endgame. Enjoy!

* * *

_Capsule Corporation_

"Where is everyone? They should have been back by now. Kami, this is so frustrating." Bulma spoke with grit teeth, her frayed nerves leaving her unable to sit down for more than a minute.

"Bulma darling, try to relax. You'll give yourself wrinkles if you keep on frowning like that." Mrs Briefs lightly admonished her daughter.

"I'm sorry Mom. I just can't help it! I want to know what happened to everyone. Are they all okay? Is Goku really…?" She couldn't even bring herself to say it. The possibility of it being true is just too much for her to handle right now.

The women were on the balcony looking over the late afternoon sky. Bulma had returned from Master Roshi's island after watching the Cell Games a while ago and had been waiting for someone, _literally_ _anyone_ , to come back with some sort of update on what happened today. She walked over to the railing and held on to it as her mind wandered over the events of...well everything.

The heiress never would've guessed that everything would've been wrong from the word 'Go'. What, with Goku falling sick on the day of the androids appearance, said androids not even being the same ones they were warned about by the young boy who actually turned to be her son from the future (which was absolutely wild, by the way!). And that wasn't even the worst part. It had turned out that the androids Dr. Gero had created were not the main enemy, they were merely a means to an end in his sick plan. The real enemy had been that monster Cell, who had been designed to absorb those androids so that he could be complete and achieve unbelievable power and become a near unstoppable force, perfect in all aspects.

The funny thing was, they had chances to stop him, even after he had absorbed Android 17. From what she had gathered when she was on the lookout, Vegeta had ample time and chances to destroy the android and he almost did. Until he let that _thing_ con him into absorbing the last android, using his weakness of wanting to fight a worthy opponent against him. She grimaced at that thought.

' _How could he have let himself fall for that desperate attempt to stay alive? You'd think after discovering Cell had Frieza's cells in him that he would know not to fall for anything that monster said.'_ Bulma sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. _'No, he can't take all the blame for that since Cell wouldn't have had the chance to absorb the android if Krillin had just shut her off with the remote like I told him to.'_ So really, a lot of things contributed to Cell becoming complete.

After Piccolo had informed her that Cell was complete, she still had a slight hope that they could still defeat him. But his strength had proven to be too much for Vegeta and Trunks to handle. After that, she was sure that they were doomed. That they were destined to die and that no matter how hard they tried, their fate was sealed. So imagine her shock when Cell broke into an international news building and announced that, in ten days, he was hosting a martial arts tournament very similar to the World Martial Arts Tournaments from before. That arrogant freak of nature was so sure in his abilities that he had the nerve to prolong the Earth's destruction for the hell of it! It was infuriating!

And now, ten days later, she's on the balcony of her home with her mother and son, waiting for anyone to tell them how it went. When she was with Roshi, he let her know what was happening after the TV blacked out and she didn't like a lot of what she heard. But she was waiting to hear it directly from the source. Only then would she truly have closure.

"I know it's frustrating darling but you're not helping yourself by worrying yourself sick. Just be a little patient Bulma. I'm sure someone will be here soon, you wait and see." Bunny told her daughter, a soft smile adorning her face. Bulma turned around and faced her mother,nodding her head as she breathed out a heavy sigh. Out of nowhere, her baby started fussing from his high chair, making all sorts of baby noises.

"What's wrong Trunks?" She started walking to him when she noticed that he was pointing at something behind her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she turned to look at the open sky. She squinted slightly to try and focus on what her son was pointing at.

Just as she was about to give up, a small dot made itself visible in the sky. As it got bigger and bigger, her heart started to race when she saw the flash of purple and blue.

"Oh my gosh, it's Trunks! He's here!"

"But Trunks has always been here honey." Bunny said in a confused voice, referring to the baby in his chair.

"No, Mom. I mean Trunks from the future! He's back from the fight! Woohoo!" Bulma cheered at the sight of her son. A moment later, the teen landed on the balcony, a grin on his face when he saw his mother and grandmother's joyful expressions. He braced himself when he saw his young mother coming at him full charge and caught her easily when she threw herself at him and hugged him as tight as she could manage.

"Trunks! I'm so glad you're alright! Oh my Kami, I was so worried about you!"

He smiled warmly and hugged her back, laying his cheek on top of her head.

"I'm okay Mom. You don't have to worry anymore now that Cell is gone." He pulled her back by her arms and looked into the eyes identical to his own that were shining with elation and relief. He made sure he caught that expression, it was the same one he'd hope to see his own mother wearing when he got home soon and took care of his world's problems.

"Welcome back, young man! It's good to see you looking so well!" Bunny said to her grandson, blinding him with her radiant smile.

"Thank you Grandmother. It's good to see you too. And it's good to see you, little man." Trunks grinned at his young counterpart who babbled happily at him.

"Let me look at you." Bulma took a few steps back and inspected her son from head to toe. He looked to be in overall good health. No horrible gashes or broken bones in sight-

"Oh..my..goodness.." She whispered, paling in horror at the huge hole in his armour. "What happened to you?"

"It's… a really long story. Let's sit down so I can tell you everything that happened." When they were seated at the table, Trunks took a big breath before delving into the story. Bulma and her mother were listening intently as he told them all that happened during the day.

"Even though I saw it, I still couldn't believe it when Goku had said that he was giving up and had chosen Gohan as his replacement. I don't think any of us were expecting that." She mused, her finger on her chin.

"Yeah, no kidding. We all thought that Cell had managed to knock him in his head hard enough that he would choose Gohan. But we really didn't know what we were in for when he did that. But get this, as soon as Gohan got down there, Goku tossed Cell a senzu bean!" he said, his expression bewildered.

"Yeah, I saw that! I wanted to punch Goku in the teeth for that move! Did he say why he did that because, for the life of me, I couldn't understand why he would do something so stupid."

Trunks rolled his eyes as he thought about Goku's reason. "He said it was because Cell had exhausted some of his energy fighting him so he wanted to make sure that when he and Gohan fought, they were on an even playing field. So that it would be 'fair'."

"To hell with being fair! Billions of lives were at stake! What in Kami's good name was he thinking?! Goku must've hit his head a lot harder than we thought when he was a kid if he thought that was a good idea." Bulma couldn't believe what he had just told her.

"Well it turns out that he thought it was a bad idea a while later when he saw that Gohan was really suffering against Cell and was about to jump when Cell did something none of us were ready for. He hatched seven identical offspring and let them loose on us. We really were on the ropes and thought that all hope was lost when the unimaginable happened." His eyes started sparkling with awe when he remembered Gohan's transformation.

"Gohan went absolutely insane when he saw Android 16 get crushed under Cell's foot and underwent this magnificent transformation. It was then that we all understood what Goku was going for when he sent Gohan in. He surpassed Cell in every sense of the word, making that monster regret pushing him to his limits. He even delivered a punch so devastating that Cell spat Android 18 out, weakening him significantly."

Bulma tilted her head when she saw the light in her son's eyes fade a little, like he remembered something painful. Her heart started beating faster as she waited for him to continue, knowing instinctively that she wasn't going to like what he said next.

"After he went back to his second form, we knew it was our chance to bag the win. And Goku told him as much but unfortunately, Gohan decided against finishing him quickly, wanting to see Cell suffer before he killed him. A mistake proved to be fatal because once Cell saw he wasn't going to make it, he decided to self-detonate." Trunks clenched his fist, his mind racing back to that fateful moment. "It was then that Goku used instant transmission to take Cell somewhere else so he didn't blow up the planet. He never came back after that. He died trying to save the planet."

The heiress felt the world around her stop after hearing those words come out of her son's mouth.

"No...he's gone? He's really gone?" She whispered, irrationally afraid that if she said the words any louder, they'd prove to be true. As soon as Trunks nodded his head, she felt her heart break into pieces and tears fell down her cheeks.

Goku.

Her best friend since childhood.

Gone. _Just gone._

"Oh no! Oh, that poor Goku!" Bunny wailed into her hands, unbelieving of what she just heard. Goku was dead! But why? It couldn't be!

"He wasn't the only one that died though, was he?" Bulma woefully asked, looking at the hole in her son's armour. The young Saiyan looked up, the pain in his mother's eyes almost too much to bear, and shook his head at her inquiry, confirming her worst nightmare. It didn't matter that he was brought back with the dragon balls, no parent ever wanted to hear that their child had died.

Trunks' eyes took on that lively sparkle again, making her wonder what had happened.

"But get this mom, Yamcha told me that after I died, Father went berserk and charged Cell to try and avenge me."

Bulma's eyes went so wide, they threatened to fall out of their sockets. She couldn't believe what she just heard!

"W-what did you say? Your father did that?" She had to hear it again so she was sure she wasn't hearing things.

"Yeah! He charged Cell at full speed and started attacking him with everything he had. Nobody had expected that he would do something like that. I wish you would've seen it." The heiress couldn't help but smile at the happiness in her son's eyes.

' _What do you know? That arrogant bastard has a heart after all, one that apparently loves his son a good deal to try and avenge his death. Who would've guessed?'_

"But... it just wasn't enough. He'd barely made a dent on him and was knocked out cold with one hit. Gohan saved him from being killed by Cell's attack. Yamcha saw Gohan was unconscious and thought that they were done for." A small grin came on Trunks' face as he thought of his next words. "But, by some miracle, Gohan managed to get up and with one arm, challenged Cell to a Kamehameha battle. The other's tried getting Cell to fumble but it didn't make a difference...until dad attacked him with a blast of his own. It was strong enough to distract Cell and Gohan delivered the final blow. He defeated Cell."

Bulma was absolutely stunned. All of that had happened? Unbelievable. She felt a smile come over her lips the more she thought about.

Gohan. The same little boy that she met six years ago that was afraid of the ocean waves on Master Roshi's island had done the unthinkable and defeated one of their most powerful adversaries of all time. Her smile widened at the memory.

' _He really is Goku's son, in every sense that matters.'_

"How wonderful! That little boy is our hero!" Bulma jumped in surprise when her mother stood up from her seat and started prancing around in elation. She'd honestly forgotten that she was there for a second. A moment later, the older woman came to a stand still, her bright smile still in place.

"I'd better go get started on dinner. You must be hungry after such a difficult day you had. I'll leave you with my big grandson and take my little grandson with me. Let's go Trunks." Bunny took the baby in one arm and carried the high chair in the other like a pro and made her way to the kitchen.

"Your grandmother sure is something." Bulma remarked with an amused smile on her face. They talked a little bit more about the events afterwards, when Trunks started looking around the area, as if looking for someone.

"Dad hasn't been here yet, has he?" His brows furrowed when he saw a flash of sadness pass over his young mother's eyes before she covered it with a blank expression.

"No, he hasn't. You're the first one to get here. Kami only knows where he is right now." She said in a flat voice.

"I can't sense him anywhere either. He must've suppressed his energy so he wouldn't be found." Trunks mused to himself.

"Leave him be son. He obviously just wants to be alone wherever he is. He's a big boy, he'll come back when he wants to." Bulma couldn't help but roll her eyes thinking about Vegeta and his much-too-familiar disappearing act.

Trunks hesitated slightly before asking the question that he's been holding in him for a while now.

"Um, Mom?" She looked over at him. "Do you think you're… I mean you and dad, are you...Do you think you guys will be alright? You know...together?"

The heiress chuckled at her son's stumbling words. For someone who easily did away with Frieza, he was awfully shy when it came to personal matters.

"I'm not gonna lie to you Trunks. I honestly don't know. Our situation is..complicated at the moment. I mean the last time we spoke, like properly spoke, was the night before the androids appeared and our parting words to each other weren't exactly the greatest. So I don't know where we stand at this point."

He nodded at her words, understanding her point since his own mother hadn't parted on good terms with his father before he died. But therein lies the difference. In this time, his father had survived. This version of his mother had a chance to be happy. He wanted nothing more but that for her. Even though she didn't tell him verbally, he knew it's one of the things his mother had wished for when she sent him to the past.

"Well, if I hadn't taken the time to get to know him I would say it was a lost cause. But-" Trunks held onto one of his mother's hands, giving her a reassuring smile. "After spending a year with him, I came to realise that he really isn't all that bad. He just needs someone who's willing to take a chance with him and I know for certain you're that person."

"And I'm flattered that you think so Trunks but you have to understand that a lot happened between us in the time we were preparing for the androids to appear. He really hurt me with his actions and the man is so damn adamant that he didn't do anything wrong." Bulma rubbed her temples, her head starting to throb when she thought about their last conversation.

"I know that he's a proud man who almost never takes responsibility for his actions, but this time he's really done it. We all could have died today because he'd let Cell absorb the android a week and a half ago, just so he could have a 'challenge'. Hell, we could have died the same day Cell became whole had it not been for him deciding to host the tournament."

The heiress looked at her son, squeezing his hand so he can understand her concerns. "Back then, I let him get away with a lot. This time, he's got to acknowledge that he's really messed up big time. He can't keep thinking that the universe owes him something just because he's the Saiyan Prince."

She sighed, already not looking forward to that conversation. "Kami knows it's not going to be easy to do that. I'm sure he'd rather pull his own teeth out with a fork than admit he was wrong."

"I know it's not going to be easy. But if there's anyone strong enough to get through it, it's you Mom. I believe it."

Bulma shook her head at him, her smile soft. "You sure are persistent. I don't know if you got it from me or your father. But...thank you honey. I needed to hear that. Now, go ahead and wash up. Dinner will be ready soon." Her eyes followed him as he went into the house and as soon as he was out of sight, she let her smile drop and she sighed heavily. She looked out at the soft pink and orange sky, the sun starting to set over West City. Her mind raced with everything she'd heard.

Their lives had changed drastically in a few hours. They had managed to save their world from destruction but they still suffered a heavy loss, just not in the way they had expected

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she thought about her best friend had died and had chosen to stay dead. He was really gone for good this time. The concept of death had never really gotten to her that much since they'd always had an out. But now, it was settling over her like a mountain and her heart ached with sorrow.

"Oh, Goku. Why?" Tears fell down her cheeks as she whispered to the early night sky.

She allowed herself to grieve for a while before heading back into the house to freshen up. It had been a long, emotional day full of high's and low's. In the end, they had survived and she was determined to live the way her oldest friend would've wanted. Not with sadness, but with happiness, peace, love. She'd see it right through to the end.

* * *

Hours later, Bulma was walking to her room after putting her baby to bed. She walked through her door and had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop herself from screaming. Sitting on her bed in the dark was none other than the Saiyan Prince himself. It almost looked like he was sitting on a throne, what with his arms crossed and his ankle resting on his knee.

"Vegeta! For Kami's sake, would you stop doing that?! One of these days I'm actually going to have a fucking heart attack." He didn't answer, he merely stared at her with a blank expression, his eyes more intense than she'd ever seen before and fixed solely on her. They stayed in silence for a while until Bulma started to fidget under his scrutiny. Eventually, she couldn't take much more of it.

"Well? Are you going to say something or do you plan on staring at me the whole night?"

"Is the boy asleep?" Bulma blinked in surprise. She wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah he is. They both are." She looked over to the monitor on her nightstand and made sure that the function was one-way instead of two-way like last time, just in case things got ugly again.

' _At least the room is soundproof so we don't have to worry about being overheard.'_

"So, what did you want to talk about? At least, I'm assuming you're here because you want to talk." Still, he continued to stare at her with his unnerving gaze.

Bulma ran her hands down her face, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. "Look, Vegeta. I don't mean to state the obvious but it's been a hell of a long day, what with finding out my son was killed and that Goku is gone for good. I'm exhausted and I'm seriously not in the mood for anything right now. So if you're not going to say anything, the door's right there."

"You're going to mourn over him, are you not?"

"Excuse me?" She faced him with a befuddled look on her face.

"Kakarot. You're going to mourn him over him dying, correct?"

"Y-yes, of course." Where was he going with this?

"So let's say the situation was different. Let's say it was me who had died on this day and chose to not return. Would you mourn my death?"

What in the world has gotten into him? "Are you being serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking, Woman?" He asked with a firm expression on his face.

She raised an eyebrow at his smart response. Alright then, if he wants her honest answer, then that's what he's going to get.

"Yes. I would mourn your death...only after I'd managed to find a way to rip you a new one for choosing to stay dead because, in case you forgot, the last time we spoke to each other we ended on bitter terms. I wouldn't want you to die and stay gone before we'd at least had the chance to work things out between us. That would hurt. A lot."

The Prince could only stare at her with disbelief, not expecting her to be so honest, before chuckling and shaking his head.

"Is something funny?" Bulma asked with her arms crossed, not liking his reaction to her honest opinion.

"Yes actually. I can't understand why you would waste your time mourning somebody like me. It's such a ludicrous notion that I just had to laugh." He looked at her with a cruel smirk on his face.

Her ears had to be deceiving her, he couldn't honestly think that. "What the hell do you mean 'waste my time'? You think I'd be wasting my time grieving your loss?"

"I don't just think so. I know so." He stood up, his visage contorted into a scowl, and stalked towards her. "Have you already forgotten who I am? What I've done? What I could still do?"

Bulma grit her teeth, trying to suppress her anger at his words.

"I'm well aware of what you've done, Vegeta. I'm not an idiot. And I would appreciate it if you didn't talk to me as if I am." She let out a small breathe, trying to calm her nerves. "Look, it's been a long day and I'm not in the mood for your games. If you really have nothing substantial to say", she pointed to the door, "then don't let the door hit you on the way out."

The heiress made her way to her bathroom, wanting nothing more than a shower at that moment.

"Woman." She kept going, not wanting to deal with him at that moment.

"Bulma." Shaking her head minutely, she kept her easy pace, thinking he'd get the picture.

She should have known better than to assume anything when it came to him.

Just as she was about to reach the bathroom, she suddenly found herself pushed against the wall, her back to Vegeta's front. He leaned closer to her, putting his mouth to her ear and whispered in a deceptively soft voice, "If there is one thing I don't tolerate, it's disrespect. When I'm speaking to you, I demand an answer. Do you understand?"

Oh that was it!

Bulma growled and elbowed him in his midsection as hard as she could. He groaned in irrtation and let go of her. She swiveled around to face him, venom shooting out of her eyes.

"How dare you?" She whispered, her voice gradually gaining strength as she went on. "How dare you demand respect from me? You've got some nerve, standing there in your perceived 'glory' expecting me to respect you when you don't even have the decency to do the same for me!"

The Prince rolled his eyes angrily, scoffing at her words. "Typical. So you're really still stuck on that?"

"Yes I'm still stuck on it. And now, I have something else to add on to it. Kami, just listen to yourself! You're so sure that you've really done nothing wrong, aren't you?!"

He grit his teeth and sneered at her, arrogance pouring out of him in waves. "Of course I'm sure. What exactly have I done that's so wrong that-"

"If it wasn't for you and your damned pride, our son wouldn't have died!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, her face red with fury. Vegeta could only gape at her in shock, her words causing his heart to lurch at the memory.

She carried on, not breaking her stride. "All the time you wasted three years ago, wasn't that you trying to prove that you were the strongest?! That you were the most powerful being in the universe?! Well you did all of that, as well as prove that you're also the most arrogant and foolhardy! Because of you _,_ Cell became complete! Because of you _,_ we almost lost our lives to that monster! Because of _you,_ our son DIED!" Bulma felt tears running down her face, all of her hurt and anger coming out in one torrential storm.

"Woman-"

"I'm not finished!" She stepped up to him and poked his chest with her finger. "Do you remember our last conversation, if you can even call it that? You said that I was angry because you left without saying anything? Well you were wrong about that too! I wasn't angry because you left me! I was angry because you didn't trust me! Dammit Vegeta, don't you see?! I'm not a fucking teenager who's going to cry like an idiot if you need to make some big decisions that involve you leaving and yet, you chose to treat me as such!"

She wiped her eyes roughly and held onto the top of his breastplate, pulling it as hard as she could. "Therein lies the root of my anger. Your lack of trust in me. You went on and on about how I was your mate, your wife so to speak and yet you withheld something like that from me, not trusting me to help you with whatever you needed. I don't know about you but here on Earth, we tend to tell our partners about decisions that are as big as off world endeavours! And now, you have the nerve to stand there and demand respect from me when you can't even be inclined to do the same?!"

Vegeta swiped her hand off his chest and stepped close to her, leaving almost little space between them. "You've made your point and I heard you! So what then?! What do you want from me?!"

She stood tall and held her head up high, arms akimbo. "I want you to acknowledge your mistakes and take responsibility for your actions, not just the ones against me, but for everything you've played a hand in! I want you...to apologise."

"What did you say?" He asked, unbelieving of what he just heard.

"You heard me. I want an apology." When he continued to look at her like she'd grown horns out of her nose, she sighed and dropped her arms. "For goodness sake Vegeta. It's not like I'm asking you to get me a bouquet of roses, get down on one knee and pour your heart out to me." She smirked wryly at him, "I'm asking you to acknowledge that you fucked up. And to give me your word that you won't do it again. That's all."

Vegeta shook his head at her, "Hmph. 'That's all' she says."

"Because it is." Bulma dropped her smile and looked at him with a serious expression on her face, her eyes never leaving his. "And if you can't do that, then there's no hope at all. We'll carry on with our lives separately and you can do whatever you want. It's up to you."

The silence between them stretched out, neither of them dropping their gazes. Eventually, one of them gave in.

"Tch. Very well." He scoffed softly at that. He looked into her eyes and sighed softly, seeing no other way.

He turned to his side and looked at her through the corner of his eye. "I am...sorry for what happened. With you. With our son. Everything." He grit his teeth before forcing himself to relax. "You have my word that I won't do it again. On my honour as the Saiyan Prince."

The heiress gave him a radiant smile, happiness shining through her sapphire eyes. "Then I forgive you. See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Don't push it." He warned her, feeling slightly embarrassed about what he said.

"I'm not. To be honest, I didn't think we were actually going to work things out. You have your son to thank for that." He raised his eyebrow, silently telling her to continue. "After our talk in the afternoon, I saw something in his eyes that caught my attention. Hope. He was hoping that we would be able to work past our issues and carry on with our lives."

"Now why would the boy hold on to something like that?"

"Because his own mother will never have the chance." Vegeta looked away at that. "I'm sure that was one of the other reasons my other self sent him back to make sure we survive. So that we could work out our differences and move on. Something she'll never get to do. And so, in that spirit, I want to make you a deal."

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued at his mate's behaviour. "What's the deal?"

"A fresh start. We forget about the past and start all over again." She paused for a second. "Okay maybe not forget, but acknowledge that what's done is done. The past can't be changed. But we can grow from our experiences and start anew. You could say it'll be like we're newly mated again." She giggled at her word choice.

Vegeta scoffed at her silly antics. "What's the end point?"

"You have to promise to tell me when you're planning on doing something that can be considered a big deal and could affect both of us. That doesn't mean I want to hear about your every little move but a 'see you later' would be good enough if and when you plan on leaving again. Agreed?"

The Prince thought about it for a moment before nodding his agreement. Bulma smiled in relief, happy that they were able to come to a common agreement.

_'And think. I didn't even have to threaten to maim him.'_

"I do have one last question." Bulma nodded for him to continue. "What's the catch? Why are you so willing to let it go?"

"Come on, Vegeta. Do I really have to spell it out for you after our talk?" She rolled her eyes when she saw he was being serious. "Guess I do."

She closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms lightly around his neck. "The reason's simple. It's because...I love you." Bulma smirked at the look on his face, trying her best not to laugh. "Crazy, right? Considering it's you I'm talking about. But it's true."

The Prince shook his head at her for the umpteenth time that evening, convinced that this woman had injured herself while he was gone.

"You're a foolish woman to do that."

Bulma shrugged at his comment. "I know. But it is what it is. I mean, I know I wouldn't have allowed you to do this", she ran her finger over her mark, "to me if I didn't love you. So call me foolish all you want. You're stuck with me anyway, so you'll just have to learn to deal with it."

"Shut up already." He wrapped his arms around her waist, bent his head down and kissed her (without her biting him this time, thankfully). He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and when she opened her mouth, wasted no time in letting himself explore her to his leisure.

Truth is, he already knew how she felt. She'd let him know as much when she uttered those same words the night before he left. Initially he thought she'd been talking through her stupor. Looks like she actually meant it. They took their time reacquainting with each other until Bulma pulled away to release a huge yawn.

"I'm exhausted. Do you mind if we continue with this tomorrow? I feel like I'm about to fall over." She rubbed her strained eyes, the day's excitement finally catching up to her fully. Vegeta chuckled mockingly at that, catching her gaze.

"You're tired? What the hell were you doing all day? Sitting in front of a TV watching the fight? Sounds exhausting." He said snidely, smirking at the familiar fire in her sapphire eyes.

"Fucking smartass." Bulma mumbled under breath, making Vegeta's smirk widen at her vulgar language.

A lot had happened in the space between the androids and Cell. As much as it irritates him to admit it, the woman might just have a point. They went to bed that night, the Prince staying up to sort through his thoughts.

_'_ _A fresh start, eh?'_ He thought about his now dead rival and smirked. _'I guess I can consider this the start of something new. It'll be the start of me finally taking my place as the strongest warrior in the entire universe.'_

He closed his eyes, his trademark smirk never leaving his face all night.

_Just as I was meant to._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> A/N 2: I had thought about throwing a love scene in here but decided against it. It just didn't suit the tone of this story.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the revised version, let's call it the epilogue, of the 3-year gap story. Stay safe everyone! Until next time!
> 
> RR18❤🌹


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